What do you think of when you think of cooking shows? Expert hosts. Exacting recipes. Perfect results. What you probably don’t think of are crowded kitchens, impromptu poetry readings, and occasional musical interludes. Enter the effortlessly charming and curiously surreal Milwaukee Kitchen, a YouTube cooking show set in the city’s Riverwest neighborhood and hosted by musician/artist/treasure Didier Leplae.
Well, “hosted” may be the wrong word. Set in Leplae’s kitchen, the show is less about do-it-yourself recipes and more about cramming a bunch of friends, neighbors, and fellow artists into a small space and seeing what happens. The recent season two premier features Leplae slowly getting around to making a blancmange while folks like author Christina Ward (American Advertising Cookbooks-How Corporations Taught Us To Love, Spam, Bananas, and Jell-O), Mailman Mike, and Casey Seymour of local psychedelic band Ravi/Lola drop by. Plus, there are dreamy musings of a cat, Penita, who speaks in subtitled French.
Even if you don’t know Leplae or his friends personally, there’s something comforting—and inspiring—about watching the camaraderie and conversation that bubbles up in the kitchen. Watch the season two premier below, and the rest of the series HERE.